Biden Accuser Tara Reade Goes After FBI for Targeting Americans

Tara Reade, who claims she was sexually assaulted by President Joe Biden in 1993 and recently moved to Russia, has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG).

Reade served as a Biden aide when he was a U.S. senator representing Delaware, drawing headlines during the his campaign April 2020 when she filed a criminal complaint with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department accusing him of pushing her against the wall in a Senate corridor and penetrating her with his fingers nearly three decades earlier.

The accusations were strongly denied by Biden, and Reade became fearful for her safety, making a plea in May for Russian President Vladimir Putin to grant her citizenship following her move from the U.S. to Moscow. Reade still resides there and has been granted asylum in an expedited process, she told Newsweek via phone on Wednesday.

"In my opinion, the U.S. has lost its democracy," said Reade, who before working for Biden served as an intern for then-Representative Leon Panetta. "I'm not being melodramatic, but it's come out in different ways. It's bigger than me. I frankly don't know if I'll get any justice in my own case but am hoping it will help others.

"I think the only way I can know [if I can gain legal traction] is by doing it and pushing it."

The new civil rights complaint, which is not a lawsuit, was filed on Wednesday and requests an investigation into FBI practices that resulted in Reade, described within as a whistleblower victim of sexual assault with no criminal background or monetary motivation, "becoming the target" of a federal grand jury investigation and California criminal investigation "even after she requested FBI protection from death threats."

Her First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated, it claims.

It also seeks an investigation of the extent of the FBI surveillance, including search and seizure activities such as applications and issuances of subpoenas and warrants targeting Reade and her social media, communications and financial accounts, in addition to disclosure and copies of all records and information associated with her surveillance under her First Amendment rights. All FBI records related to Reade are also requested to be expunged.

Newsweek reached out to the IG via email for comment.

Reade, who left her life, including family and pets, in the U.S. about seven months ago, said her complaint is part of what she views as a broader U.S. trend of legal and political weaponization, citing the recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling barring Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from being on the state's ballot, to people at the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot being targeted with harsh sentencing guidelines.

Around the time that she left for Russia, she had been in contact with House Republicans, including Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene, about publicly testifying in front of the House Subcommittee on Federal Weaponization.

That never came to fruition, however, and Gaetz purportedly cut off contact with Reade in June. She said she believes Gaetz tried his best, and she wonders whether having new House Speaker Mike Johnson may improve her ability to testify—either remotely or even in person, if provided the right security as she still is fearful for her safety.

London-based attorney Jonathan Levy, who has legally represented Reade since the spring, told Newsweek via phone on Wednesday that he is going through all proper legal channels and that it is up to the IG to investigate or not. If not, the next step would be a tort claim as a precursor to a lawsuit.

"[Reade] came out in 2019 with the allegations [against Biden] made in 1993," Levy said. "It was reported in the press and then it came up again in 2020, at which point she began getting a lot of pressure, complained to the FBI. It turned into an actual FBI operation against her."

In May 2020, Biden publicly denied the allegations for the first time during his campaign. There are sealed records at the National Archives and the University of Delaware. The university later said it would release records two years after Biden's exit from public life.

Following the renewed allegations in 2020, in the midst of Biden's campaign, the DOJ issued a subpoena probing Twitter for information on Reade's accounts.

Levy also alludes to felony perjury charges against Reade in Monterey County, where the district attorney's office investigated her in 2020 regarding her testimony as an expert on domestic violence cases because she allegedly lied under oath and fabricated her qualifications, Politico reported last year.

The district attorney ultimately declined to file perjury charges against Reade "because of the difficulty in proving the materiality of her false testimony," according to Monterey County Weekly, even though Reade was found to have lied about her credentials.

Levy is confident that files naming FBI officials involved in her investigation exist and will tell Reade's story, saying the Russia Today writer is receiving similar treatment to current publicized whistleblowers, alluding to officials who have testified in front of Congress regarding Hunter Biden.

"When she came forward in 2019, there was absolutely no connection to Russia at all minus a blog post on the Ukraine war," Levy said. "There was absolutely no reason for her to ever be under FBI investigation. It's inexplicable as to why she'd be a target for the federal grand jury. It's inexplicable as to why the Monterey [DA] would put her under perjury charges. Our impression is that it's all politically motivated.

"She's in a position of safety. She has a job. She's coming forward now to help other whistleblowers."

He promised that more details will be released pertaining to Reade's complaint in January.

Reade continues to acclimate to life in Russia, saying that people she has met in the Russian Federation "have no animosity against Westerners" and are generally curious. Along with her Russia Today job, she is working on a book to help supplement her income and better tell her story.

But she still deals with "isolation" and said she's lost contact with many friends and family members who are too fearful to talk with her. Reade will also soon miss her daughter's wedding.

Her asylum case was granted within 90 days, putting her in a select group of about 10 percent of asylum seekers who have received such treatment. She must stay within legal boundaries for the asylum to remain intact.

"I'm gonna keep fighting, I'm not gonna give up," she said. "I really want to hold Joe Biden accountable. He took a complaint from 1993 and put that into a sealed box in the University of Delaware. He just continually flouts the law like he's above it. It's not right and it needs to be brought forward.

"I would still be in the U.S. [if it wasn't for him]. I didn't commit a crime. All I did was tell the truth."